Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

The boat I bought last fall had 2 batteries and a Perko switch. This particular switch has an extra pair of smaller terminals for cutting the field winding in an alternator to prevent damage to the diodes if you rotate the switch while the motor is running. OK that's from their website--I don't really understand the need. Thing is, there are wires on mine that are taped up in a harness that runs forward to the console and NOT back to the motor.

My question is:
What other use is there for these terminals on the Perko? I can't tell what they go to because the PO chopped the harness during a re-deck and all the colors no longer match end-to-end.

I contacted Perko & their response was those wires are ONLY good for connecting to the alternator field wires. I guess they're not familiar with "thinking outside the box"!

Extra is unlikely... Battery one should feed to motor and supply all it's electrical needs often including a pair of 12 volt wired forward to helm for ignition, tilt, trim and gauges.

Battery two should start out close to the battery with a inline fuse sized to wire capacity installed or utilized to carry the expected load. This can vary hugely from installation to installation so one has to have a idea of what they want before hand to "get er done right". Here is a example of potential boat wiring options......

This unlikely switch is a model 8503.